


Exile

by AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard



Series: November Writing Challenge 2020 [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/pseuds/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard
Summary: "In hindsight Vi should have known this day would come.She never turned the right colors to completely blend her in with the fancy oil canvas that is Piltover; instead she's always been a smudge, a shock of bright pink against all the harmonized browns and dark yellows, as if the painter had accidentally dropped his brush and in a haste to wipe the residue had made the stain worse.But most importantly, she never truly managed to fit the intricate puzzle that was Caitlyn's plan for her and for the city that they have both have sworn to protect, where everything and everyone has their cookiecutter time and place - and she never tried to.Maybe that's where the problem lies."
Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)
Series: November Writing Challenge 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995598
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Exile

**Author's Note:**

> For the November writing challenge I'm running with two other friends.
> 
> It honestly feels like ages since I've written anything for these two but it was really long overdue. Depending on how committed I stay to push a oneshot/drabble per day I may write something more. We'll see.
> 
> It's unbeta'd so I apologize in advance for any mistakes that may have escaped me ♥

In hindsight Vi should have known this day would come.

She never turned the right colors to completely blend her in with the fancy oil canvas that is Piltover; instead she's always been a smudge, a shock of bright pink against all the harmonized browns and dark yellows, as if the painter had accidentally dropped his brush and in a haste to wipe the residue had made the stain worse.

But most importantly, she never truly managed to fit the intricate puzzle that was Caitlyn's plan for her and for the city that they have both have sworn to protect, where everything and everyone has their cookiecutter time and place - and she never tried to. 

Maybe that's where the problem lies.

The letter that confirms and informs her of her faith sits burning a hole in her back pocket as she adjusts the rucksack strap on her shoulder for the third or fourth time since she'd left home that morning. There's not much in it, just the few odds and ends she managed to hastily grab in such short notice, but it still weighs heavy against her back like an anchor trying to keep her from leaving the port.

She ends up ditching it halfway through her trek, when she feels herself nearly crumbling under its looming presence. 

The fog is still thick enough to conceal her movements that morning, and Vi is endlessly thankful for it. She doesn't know what she'd do if she had to walk towards her exile under the critical and judging eyes of the general population, especially after failing them the way she did.

They'll be better off without her. The council has dictated it to be so.

She clenches and unclenches her bare fists, endlessly missing the familiar metal that usual conceals them. The thick bandages around her knuckles do little to nothing to mimic the feeling - Vi knows it has been foolish to even try and attempt to give herself some sliver of comfort. She doesn't deserve it.

Her right leg still burns with every heavy step she takes, one of the last reminders from all the injuries she's suffered the week prior, when the building she had personally checked and deemed safe enough to enter came tumbling down atop of her. One would have called the episode just another Tuesday thing as far as Jinx is concerned and involved, but it was the first time Caitlyn has fallen victim to it as well.

Vi has been unable to shake the sight of her partner buried under a pile of rubble, her porcelain skin a canvas of yellows and blues and purples. The image has been burned into her mind and it's all she sees when she closes her eyes. Another reminder of failure.

Because yes, Vi has failed. Vi has failed  _ her.  _ How is she supposed to protect a whole city when she can't even protect one of its sheriffs?

No, not any sheriff. Her sheriff. Her boss. Her partner. Caitlyn.

It’s really no wonder the council has fallen on her this hard, considering she has failed to protect the one person in the whole city who thought she was worth a damn.

This is truly more than deserved.

The sounds of the sea and the smells that it brings greet her the moment she descends the long staircase down to the port. The area is completely empty this early in the morning, save for the one ship that has been arranged to take her away. A burly man stands near it, deep in conversation with a warden, who has no doubt been sent to oversee that she leaves like she's supposed to. Her stomach turns at the sight. She’d foolishly hoped Caitlyn would have come herself instead. 

She can't really blame her for not wanting to see Vi ever again, considering what happened. 

Both men's gazes burn holes into her when they finally acknowledge her presence. "About time you showed up," the warden tells her, his tone harsh and bitter, "the sooner we get this over with, the better."

He extends his hand and Vi fetches the letter from her back pocket and hands it over. The man regards it for a moment, his eyebrows betraying his stone faced demeanour. He seems momentarily stunned by what he reads. "I had no idea the council had ruled to exile you permanently," he confesses, his eyes full of pity, "I'm sorry."

Vi shrugs but chooses to remain silent and the man turns to address the burly sailor then. "Guess that makes it two you'll have to ferry out of the city. Very strange how the clans decided to exile two people just like that. These are truly some troubling times we are living in..."

That gets her attention, but before she even gets the chance to ask, she's unceremoniously being ushered and escorted towards the ship. They take her down under the deck through a small hatch and narrow stairs, deep into the bowels of it. She’s led past heavy stacked provisions and some of the crew towards a single heavy door, and soon enough she’s being pushed into what appears to be a holding cell. The men shoot her one last look and then the door and lock are clicking shut. 

It takes her a few moments to get her bearings and for her eyes adjust to the change of lighting - the only source in the room is the low light from the oil lamp hanging precariously from the ceiling - and it's when the dark spots are finally out of her vision that Vi notices she's indeed not alone.

The heavily cloaked figure sits neatly on a wooden chair against the far wall, and even if she can't see their face, Vi feels their gaze on her form. But that's not what catches her attention - no, what truly catches her eye are the heavy wooden crate standing at their left and the fancy looking bag leaning against it. Whoever this person may be, they have been given plenty of time to pack. 

"Great," she finds herself letting out with an exasperated breath, "they have me exiled along with some fancy pants. What did you do? Forgot to donate half your riches at one of the clans' charity parties? Picked the wrong outfit to attend?" She snorts at her own words, shaking her head. "You know what? Never mind. I don't think I wanna know."

She turns and takes the three steps that separate her from the opposite wall and leans against it. Vi fixes her gaze on the oil lamp, watching as the flickering flame inside casts all sorts of moving shadows in the ceiling above. She lets out a deep breath. "I still bet the reason you were exiled wasn't as bad as mine." She pauses, unsure why she's even talking about it with some stranger who's face she can't even see. She licks her lips and tries to reason with herself, but the words keep rolling off her tongue. "I almost got someone killed."

Vi dares to chance a glance at the cloaked figure across the room as the implications hang heavy like a storm cloud on a sunny day. She notices them shift in their seat - most likely uncomfortable by her sudden confession -, but they bow their head in a way that tells her the stranger wants her to elaborate. It makes little sense to her why they would care.

She humors them regardless. There's no telling how long they'll be stuck down there together and even less telling what will happen once they reach their destination. "I thought it was safe," she begins, her mind flashing back to that fateful afternoon, "Jinx had been spotted around the area so as usual the wardens were called in just in case. Wouldn't be the first time she would try or even actually level an whole building down just for fun." She rolls her eyes at the thought. "I went in first as I always do, except this time the stakes were much higher. I wasn't alone."

The discussion with her partner comes to the forefront of her mind then, and Vi swallows down the wave of guilt, regret and anger it stirs in her. "I told her to stay back even after I did a full sweep. I could feel something was off. She wouldn't. She said she trusted me." Another pause. "She trusted me and yet she refused to stay back. We went inside still arguing and as she moved away to check the next room…"

Vi trails off, unwilling to want to go through those agonising moments of despair and raw panic once again. There's a fleeting moment where her mind slips and she feels flames licking at her right leg again, but she shakes her head and clenches her fists, the sting from nails butting into the skin of her palm serving to ground her to the present. She won't go there again. Not now. Not in front of a stranger inside a ship to nowhere.

"I missed it somehow and she could have died. It's my fault. I deserve this." She closes her eyes, feeling the boat beginning to rock. They must be leaving the port. "At least now she'll be safer without me around."

Silence falls after her words, only broken by the sudden loud creak of metal. The Sun Gates are opening to see Vi out of Piltover for the last time. It sounds almost poetic.

It's only when she hears the waves lap at the ship and feels the rocking of the open waters through her body that it finally sinks in that she's really leaving to never come back. The streets of Zaun and Piltover are all she'd ever known.

Vi slides down the wall and sinks into the floor, bowing her head down so the stranger doesn't see the moisture gathering at the corner of her eyes. She never cried in front of anyone. She's not about to start now.

She's not sure how much time passes until a somewhat familiar voice chimes in. "What happened was not your fault."

A bitter chuckle makes it past her lips. "Tell that to the council. I think they disagree considering where we are."

"I did. And that is not quite why we are here, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary."

The lit in the stranger's voice makes it through the haze of her troubling thoughts like a lighthouse on the storm and Vi snaps her eyes open. She regards the stranger, her mouth opening and closing a few times, her heart beating so fast she can hear it pounding in her ears.

It can't be. 

There's no way.

The next moments happen in a blur. 

It starts with the stranger standing up and taking the few steps until they are right in front of her. It continues with them dropping the cloak to reveal familiar features she thought she would never see again. It ends with Vi shooting up and unceremoniously wrapping her arms around a body she thought she'd never get to touch again.

"I am truly sorry for deceiving you but I needed the council to think I was on their side." The words are murmured against her hair and then there's nails gently scratching at the back of her neck in a soothing motion and a hand firmly planted against the small of her back, keeping her close.

Vi feels like she's in some sort of daze. A big part of her believes she's dreaming, that she's going to wake up on the floor with the cloaked stranger still sitting across from her… but the body in her arms feels awfully solid  _ and real _ , and when she buries her face further in raven tresses, the familiar smell of lavender and earl grey is there to greet her.

_ 'If this is a dream' _ , she bitterly thinks to herself,  _ 'the gods are cruel.' _

She allows herself a few more moments to bask in the warmth, to cling to something that may not even be there before she pulls back enough so she can look the other woman in the eye. The piercing blue eyes that greet her own are unmistakably Caitlyn's, and so are the red lips and the fading bruises across her left cheek. Vi hesitates before she brings her hand up, shaky fingers tracing the lines of yellows and nearly there blues with a care she didn't know she possessed and Caitlyn lets her. It's like she knows. Maybe she does. She always does.

"Are you really here?" She finds herself asking barely above a whisper. She hates how vulnerable she sounds. 

A firm hand takes hold of her own free one, gentle yet insistent fingers wrapping around her wrist before tugging it upwards. Her open palm is placed against Caitlyn's chest, right above where her heart is, and Vi almost sobs at the steady heartbeat she feels there. The gesture itself is pretty symbolic - Caitlyn has done the exact same thing the moment Vi dug her out of the rubble to steady her growing panic and keep her from spiralling. 

Leave it to her to keep a cool head in such a dire situation.

Although now that she's absolutely sure her partner is truly there with her on the ship, Vi's mind feels sharp enough to start asking questions. Caitlyn must have sensed or even seen the shift in her expression. She speaks first.

"Again, I really have to apologise for not telling you everything but I could not risk it. There is more going on than I anticipated at first." She pauses, her eyes turning softer. "I knew the only way was to make them think I was on the council's side. They wanted you gone before you started asking more questions."

Vi finds herself frowning at her words. "More questions…? What-"

"Remember what you said? About Jinx and the building?" She continues before Vi gets a chance to reply. "You said it did not make sense for her to target it. There was nothing worth stealing in the vicinity - no bank, no clan workshop, no museum. You told them she only targets places to distract us from her real heist, except-"

"Except there was never a heist," she finishes with a breath, "it was all a set-up."

Caitlyn nods. "They wanted it to look like it was Jinx, but in truth I seriously doubt she was ever involved; and they did not count on you to know by now exactly how she operates. You would expose them." 

Vi stays silent for a moment as she digests the words. "And you?"

"They used the fact I was injured on duty to justify keeping me out of the case… except there was never one in the first place. All the evidence collected from the scene has disappeared. No one knows how or when." She bites her lip. "The only thing that reached the council hearing was a few statements from onlookers and other wardens at the scene that you had done a sweep of the building and gave the all clear. Nothing else."

"... And that’s when they called you in. They wanted your side of the story."

Caitlyn solemnly nods. "I had to tell them the truth."

She pulls her hands away as if she has been burned, and the action feels irrational. She knows now why Caitlyn had to do what she did, had to make Vi believe she wanted her gone like everyone else - of course that still doesn't make it right and part of her can't help but to feel angry and betrayed. Mostly the latter.

"You should have told me," she lets out between clenched teeth, "I thought- gods, Cait, I thought you wanted me gone. You, the one person I respect and trust to watch my back. I thought I had really done it this time." She pauses to let out a shaky breath, hand moving up to stubbornly wipe at the tears unrestrainedly rolling down her cheeks. "I thought I had lost you when that building came down on us and then you were there, bruised and battered but  _ alive  _ and I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen ever again but then…"

She trails off, unwilling to say more. She lets the unspoken words echo in the sounds of the crashing waves and the flickering of the oil lamp above them. She still has a question burning in the forefront of her mind but she dares not ask it - she's been vulnerable enough for one day.

And yet…

"Why are you here?" It comes out harsher than she intended but Vi can't find it in herself to care. She needs to know.

To her credit, Caitlyn doesn't even flinch but Vi doesn't miss the way she squares up her shoulders. "Whatever is going on runs much deeper than just Zaun and Piltover. I theorise someone from Noxus may have infiltrated the council and is trying to get us both out of their way."

"And yet here you are. I'd say they succeeded."

"That is what I want them to think, yes."

Vi shakes her head. She's not buying it. "So your great plan was to get exiled along with me and leave Piltover defenseless? That makes absolutely no sense."

Caitlyn bites her lip again and averts her eyes, as if she's carefully considering her next words. "I was not exiled. I simply left."

She shoots her partner an incredulous look. "You  _ what _ ?!"

"I left," she repeats, piercing blue eyes meeting her own, a storm of emotions on display there that Vi has never seen. It knocks the air out of her lungs. "Only a very few I trust know where I am headed. For all purposes, everyone thinks I have mysteriously disappeared overnight."

"The warden outside…?"

"A trustworthy man. He helped me slip into the port unnoticed."

"And the ship captain?"

"Has been paid a handsome amount of gold hexes for his discretion."

Vi lets out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and drags her hand through her messy pink hair. "You sure had it all planned…" she pauses as she regards her partner's still defensive stance, "Except…"

She trails off and watches as Caitlyn knits her eyebrows together in what she knows to be confusion. "Except…?"

"That still doesn't explain why you're here with me. You could have gone anywhere else and yet, here you are." She dares to take a step forward towards Caitlyn. "Why?"

From this close, it's impossible not to notice the way Caitlyn's eyes seem to flicker down to her lips for a split second before she meets her gaze again but Vi wisely chooses to file that as a trick of light or even just her mind playing tricks on her; but a treacherous part of her dares to hope, dares to believe… and above all, dares to wonder if it all means something. Something more. 

It's a dangerous thought she knows she shouldn't have and yet as the silence stretches, she finds herself taking another step forward, which places her right into her partner's personal space. 

"Why?" She asks once more. There's barely any space between them now - when has Caitlyn moved closer without her noticing? - and Vi can feel every shaky exhale leaving the other woman's parted lips. It's more intoxicating than anything she's ever felt and she finds herself shivering.

"Why?" She echoes again, the question just barely above a whisper this time. She tilts her head down just so, still giving Caitlyn an out if she so chooses. She needs to know. 

And then…

One moment Caitlyn is peering at her though half lidded eyes; the next she's being unceremoniously pushed back against one of the wooden walls of the ship, and she barely has time to let out a small noise as one of raised planks digs painfully into her back before lips crash against her own. 

It takes her no more than half a second to realize what's happening and then Vi kisses back with just the same amount of fervor and desperation. Her hands end up around Caitlyn's waist, pulling her impossibly closer and flushing their bodies together, and the muffled noise she gets in response draws a low growl from herself. It's all teeth and bite at first, months and months of pining finally getting its release, but after a few necessary pauses to catch their breath, their kisses turn surprisingly soft. Vi feels herself melting due to the warmth radiating from her chest. She's never felt anything like it.

Caitlyn pulls back then and Vi opens her eyes only to find herself absolutely mesmerised by the sight that greets her. Caitlyn's lipstick is smudged, lips kiss swollen. Her eyes are heavily lidded and her cheeks are slightly flushed, and she's looking at Vi like she hung the stars and moon. It's unnerving but not unwelcome and Vi seers it all into her mind like a Polaroid picture.

There's a lazy smile gracing Caitlyn's lips when she speaks again. "I hope this has answered your question."

Vi makes a face as if she's considering the words. "I don't know," she answers with a cheeky grin, "I think you may have to do it again for clarity sake."

Caitlyn humphs but nevertheless kisses her again and Vi has never been so glad about being exiled in the first place.

And sure they will still have to talk about the entire conspiracy thing and probably the fate of the entire world, but for now they have earned themselves this small reprise amid all the chaos they've been put through. 


End file.
